


Cult Favourite

by jay_doots



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Gen, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-07
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:33:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23520019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jay_doots/pseuds/jay_doots
Summary: The bus rolled into camp, seemingly more broken down than Max remembered, if that was even possible. The doors squeaked open, promptly followed by the QM's "New kid's here." as a young boy stepped off the bus. With a guitar strapped to his back, blonde floofy hair, soft blue eyes, and a single earring to top off the 'indie' look, it was obvious what camp this kid was here for.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 11





	1. Prologue

Reese slunk into the alley he had grown to know so well. After all these meetups, you would think the guy would have picked a more solid spot to meet, but no. I mean, he's probably an actual fucking cultist anyway, so who am I to judge? Reese thought to himself. After a few moments of silence, he heard those familiar footsteps behind him. He turned to look at the tall, white-clad fellow. Daniel had that never-ending smile plastered on his face, same as always. It was a nuisance to say the least.

"Well, hello Reese. I didn't expect you to show up so soon."

"You're damn lucky I haven't called the cops by now." Reese spat back, "A freaky dude like you meeting a kid in an alleyway on the regular is enough to get you locked up for life. Probably."

"Ah, but you see, you wouldn't call the police. Not after our agreement." Daniel smiled as he got closer to the boy, reminding him of his friends' unfortunate situation. This quickly shut him up.

"You'll be pleased to hear that I finally have some plans for you." This is bound to be good, Reese thought.

"I'm sending you to Camp Campbell, over by Lake Lilac. You'll find all the information you need in here." Daniel handed Reese a conveniently blank and unassuming envelope.

"So I narrowly avoid my mom sending me to a correction camp only for you to send me to some sketchy, probably dangerous one? That's rich."

"Don't forget the agreement," Daniel reminded him again. Reese got a sinking feeling in his stomach. There was no way this could end well for him, not to mention Ted and Marina.

"Right… I won't let you down."


	2. Chapter 2

**The next morning.**

"Aren't you excited Max? It's been so long since we've had a new camper!" David said excitedly, though his words fell on deaf ears as Max couldn't give less of a shit if he tried.

"Don't you remember those foreign exchange kids? The ones that were actually spies attempting to exact revenge on Campbell?" Max remarked.

"Well, they didn't really count, I suppose." David replied, somewhat dejected.

"How long are we gonna stand here? My legs are fuckin' killing me." Max complained. The only reason he was there was because all the other campers were busy with their activities, so David insisted he join him in waiting on this apparent 'new kid'.

"I'm sure it won't be too much longer." David said, less sure with each passing second. They had been waiting for a while. He was all the more thankful when that familiar yellow bus became visible in the distance.

The bus rolled into camp, seemingly more broken down than Max remembered, if that was even possible. The doors squeaked open, promptly followed by the QM's "New kid's here." as a young boy stepped off the bus. With a guitar strapped to his back, blonde floofy hair, soft blue eyes, and a single earring to top off the 'indie' look, it was obvious what camp this kid was here for.

"Uh, hey. I-I'm Reese. I'm here for music camp?" The new kid said, trying his hardest not to stumble over his words. David looked thrilled as he went to pat Reese on the back, earning a flinch and a nervous laugh from him.

Max didn't listen to David's usual spiel this time as they idly walked in the direction of the mess hall. The new guy seemed sketchy, way more than he should have been. Max was just as determined to make his time at camp a living hell as he was to find out what was up with this kid.

The three of them entered the empty mess hall, and David quickly went into the attic to retrieve the introduction video. Reese turned to Max.

"Hey, uh, do you know where I could get a snack around here? I skipped breakfast this morning and I'm kinda starving." he asked, sheepishly. This gave Max a brilliant idea.

"Sure, there are some snacks in the back room. I'll go grab some and then we can go to the activities field. There's a lot of stuff you can do there. Which is kinda the point I guess."

"Cool, thanks Max!" Reese called after him as he left to get what would probably end up being either compacted leftovers or expired chips.

"I didn't fuckin' tell him my name, and neither did David, I think. That's one point for sketchy." Max muttered to himself. He spotted some chips on the back shelf, in a box that had 'EXPIRED' scrawled on the front. "That'll have to do."

Max returned with two bags of chips in his pockets, only to find David with no oversized CD, talking to Reese.

"I'm sorry, I guess Mr. Campbell just got rid of it." David sighed.

"It's okay," Reese piped up, "I'm sure you know enough to just tell me yourself, right?"

David grinned as he was struck by an idea. "Well, we actually have a song about-"

"No, that won't be necessary." Max interrupted, "I was thinking, why don't I show the new kid around, while you do whatever counsellor shit you gotta do."

"Oh, well that's very thoughtful of you Max! I'd better get going, but I trust you two to take good care of each other!" David smiled as he practically bounded out of the mess hall, fuelled by pure positivity. Max rolled his eyes and handed Reese one of the chip packets.

"Oh, thanks." Reese said before promptly biting into a soft, moist chip. "Oh god, are these expired?!" he exclaimed.

"Yup, and you better get used to it. All the food here is either expired or made by the Quartermaster, so, who the fuck even knows what goes into that."

They made their way towards the activities field, where almost everyone was busy either doing whatever they were actually there to do or fucking with someone who was.

Reese spied a large tree stump towards the back end of the area, with the words 'MUSIC CAMP' carved into the base of it. Max noticed Reese's confusion.

"I guess that's your spot. I'm actually surprised they didn't decorate it a bit more, but I guess this was kinda last-second. Why'd your parents send you here anyway? I'm willing to bet there are a lot more options better than this."

Reese struggled to come up with an answer, which struck Max as awfully suspicious.

"Uh- I mean, I-I guess mom just had nothing better to do? Ever since the divorce it's like she's willing to do anything to keep me from seeing dad."

An awkward silence hung in the air as Max considered his options. He could either keep pressuring this obviously messed up kid, or pretend the whole thing never happened. But what did he care? The entire point of this was to make him suffer, right?

"Damn, that, uh, that sucks. Shitty dad?"

"No, it's mom who's shitty. She only wants me around for financial insurance so she can get drugs. I mean, the only reason she left dad was because-"

"Hey Max! Who's the new kid?" Neil interrupted, appearing from seemingly nowhere. Nikki quickly followed behind, with what could only be an alien substance from the Quartermaster's stash stuck in her hair.

"Uh, yeah, this is Reese." Max turned to Reese, "These losers are Nikki and Neil."

"Yeah? Well these losers wanted to show you something potentially incriminating, and-or a scientific breakthrough. But if you're too busy-" Neil was cut off as Max regained his composure.

"No, we're not busy! C'mon, let's go." he turned to Reese once again, "You can come too I guess." Nikki piped up, not missing a beat, "Yeah! Let's indoctrinate him!"

The three guys turned to look at Nikki, surprised looks painting all their features. Reese was the first to speak up.

"What?! No! Sorry- look, I-I'm fine staying here. Don't wanna ruin the whole 'trio' thing you guys are going for. I'll be fine on my own, but thanks anyway."

Max shrugged, shaking off the kid's outburst, "Alright. This better be sasquatch or a corpse or something, or I'll fuckin' kill you guys myself."

\---

Reese watched the three leave, that sinking feeling coming back as quickly as it had left. Obviously Nikki didn't know what she was talking about, but it still struck him as terrifying. After everything he had gone through, he just wanted things to be normal again. To be able to hang out with Ted like they did before all this, and to vent to Marina like he always used to. It all used to be so freeing, and yet somehow, a deranged cult leader had swiftly taken it all away. Reese knew he'd need proper therapy after all this was over.

His thoughts were interrupted by a familiar, upbeat voice ringing through the camp.

"Alrighty campers! I say it's time for a nice lunch break before the real activity of the day! To the mess hall!"

All the campers began moving towards the mess hall, Reese trailing behind. He couldn't stop thinking about his friends, what they must be going through without him. Especially Ted. The two were practically inseparable, and the moment Daniel had isolated them from one another, they both took it hard. Reese barely ate or drank anything in the following days, not to mention the lack of sleep. He imagined Ted's initial experience must have been similar.

Reese had zoned out thinking about Ted for so long, it must have been concerning. He was sat alone at a table, and noticed David, lightly tapping him on the shoulder.

"Reese? Are you okay? You don't look well."

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine." Reese dismissed David's concern, quickly trying to think of an excuse to leave. "Can I go to my tent? I'm really tired."

"Of course." David smiled softly. He knew something was wrong, but thought maybe some sleep would help. "Do you remember the way?"

Reese got up from the table, possibly too quickly. "Yeah, I'll be alright."

He rushed out of the mess hall, careful not to attract too much attention. He was painfully aware of David's worried expression as the doors closed.

Thankful he had a tent all to himself, he crashed on his makeshift bed, almost knocking over his precious guitar in the process. He felt his stomach attempting to win an Olympic gold medal in acrobatics as he went over the events that had started this whole thing over and over again in his mind. He could practically hear the screeching of tyres, the distressed screams of him and his friends as they were effectively kidnapped and taken away to some underground facility. He could feel the scars resurfacing all too quickly for his teenage mind to process. He felt like he was going to vomit at any moment, but there was nothing he could do about it. He felt paralysed, yet shook like a leaf in the midst of a hurricane. He sobbed to himself. There was nothing he could do but go through with the plan, he knew that. But why did Daniel need all this information? What was he going to do to the camp? Would he even let Reese and his friends go, or was this all some elaborate ruse? God, there was no way this could end well.

Reese turned over in his bed, reaching under it and taking the envelope he had taped to the underside of the bed. Opening it for the third time since Daniel gave it to him, he looked over the instructions again.

_Task:  
\- Spy on David  
\- Gain Max's trust  
\- Remove Gwen/Cameron Campbell from the equation (if possible)  
Completion of these tasks will earn your freedom. Act wisely, you only have one shot._

There were photos obviously taken in secret of each of the people mentioned in the note, but Reese was still yet to meet this 'Cameron Campbell' person, although he suspected he was the guy David had mentioned earlier that day. There was also some background information on David and Max, but Reese had already read it a hundred times, at Daniel's insistence. He sighed, putting the note back in the envelope and taping it back under his bed. He wiped the tears from his face, and turned back to facing the wall of his tent.

I hope Teddy's okay…

That was Reese's final thought before finally falling asleep.

**Meanwhile…**

"Well, that was weird." Max remarked as he watched Reese run out of the mess hall.

"Kid's got some problems, so what? We've all been there at some point." Neil shrugged, glancing over at Max. Nikki took a huge bite of her sandwich before butting in.

"I haven't! No problems here, whatsoever!"

Max and Neil shared a glance with one another, remembering Nikki's mom on Parent's Day. They grimaced. Max cleared his throat before continuing.

"What I mean is, he's sketchy. Just look at him, he's a perfect copy of Daniel! Pale, blonde, into music," Max trailed off as Nikki and Neil gave uncertain looks in his direction, thinking Max's assumption was a bit of a stretch. Max groaned.

"Fine! If you don't believe me, I'll prove it. Somehow…"

"Good luck with that. I for one, have more important investigations to concern myself with, such as-"

Neil was cut off as Nikki jumped up on the table enthusiastically. "Investigation? Like that Sherlock guy?! Can I help?! I wanna be a detective!" Max rolled his eyes in response.

"Sure, whatever. We'll start tomorrow, can't go snooping around if we don't know where he is." Max paused, looking back and forth between his friends, the bones of a plan starting to form in his mind.

"You mind helping out tomorrow Neil? Just for a little bit. We might need a distraction…"


	3. Chapter 3

**The next day.**

Reese had no idea what time it was when he woke up to the sound of kids shouting outside his tent. He scrambled to get out of bed and see what was happening. His breath caught in his throat. He was terrified. What if one of the campers had figured out why he was here and told one of the counsellors? What if Daniel had only sent Reese as a decoy, and he was violently taking over the camp? Reese pushed through his anxious thoughts as best he could, opening the door-flap on his tent. He squinted in the sunlight, fearing he had gone blind. Rubbing his eyes a few times, he could finally see what was happening.

Neil and another kid, Space Kid, if he recalled correctly, were standing in the middle of a circle the other kids had formed around them not long ago, arguing very loudly about something space related, and probably unimportant. Reese heaved a big sigh of relief before walking over to get a closer look.

"I'm telling you, space doesn't have a smell! If it did, we'd probably know about it!"

"But my uncle went to space, and he said it smelled like burned steak!"

"Even if your uncle did go to space, how the hell would he know what it smells like?"

"He'd just take his helmet off, silly!"

Neil facepalmed a little too hard. "You can't fucking _breathe_ in space! If you take your helmet off in the vacuum of space, all the liquid in your body evaporates instantly, and you die! How the fuck did you not know that?!"

Reese heard Max complaining from off to the side, and decided to listen in on his conversation with Nikki instead.

"Jesus, this is fucking stupid. C'mon Nikki, let's go find some grenades and throw them into the counsellors' cabin."

"Yay, anarchy!"

Reese smiled a little, looking back towards the centre of the circle. Things had escalated and Neil looked more than ready to suffocate the life out of Space Kid at the first sign of opportunity. Leaving the circle, he headed in the general direction of the mess hall, hoping he could get an early breakfast.

He zoned out once again, though this time to thoughts of music. He could hear the beginnings of a song in the back of his mind, just waiting to be seized and turned into a beautiful melody. Before he could come up with anything else, he was broken out of his trance-like state by walking into an already familiar counsellor.

"Oh, uh- sorry, I was just heading to the mess hall-"

"I know, it's okay. I was actually meaning to talk to you about something."

David's worried tone hit Reese like a ton of bricks. Did he know? Was he going to send Reese home? He didn't have much time to think of an escape plan before David spoke up again.

"I'm really worried about you, Reese. Emotionally speaking, I mean." he sighed, before continuing, "I guess what I'm trying to say is… I feel like it would benefit you to talk to someone. There's clearly something going on, and I want to know how I can help, even if that help is just listening. I want you to feel like you can be yourself here at camp, and I want you to enjoy what it has to offer."

Reese felt a familiar feeling in his throat, his eyes getting all teary. He looked at David. He knew what he had to do, and he couldn't let feelings get in the way of his mission, but he also wanted to enjoy himself here, like David said. Wiping away his tears, he finally spoke.

"I was actually going to ask you something. I know it's kinda weird a-and I don't expect you to say yes, but I was thinking," Reese took a deep breath, "Could you give me guitar lessons?"

David's eyes lit up like a bonfire. He had never thought that anyone, especially a camper, would want personal guitar lessons, from him of all people!

"Of course! I'd be more than happy to! We could start right now if you want? I'll go get the counsellor's cabin ready!"

Reese exhaled a breath he didn't even know he was holding, even letting a little smile show on his face at David's eagerness. His stomach promptly reminded him why he was even walking this way in the first place.

"I'd love to, but I'm kinda hungry right now. Also I should probably tell you, Neil and Space Kid were in the middle of an argument before. You should probably go check on them."

"Oh, right! Well, I'll talk to you later about those guitar lessons!" David said before hurrying towards the tents, where there was more shouting than before, and the sound of glass breaking could be clearly heard.

\---

Max watched David leave before turning to Nikki. "See? I told you something was up! Why would he ask for personal guitar lessons? From David?!"

"Maybe he's just really into music?" Nikki suggested, still leaning on the box of grenades. "Are we gonna do anything with these? Sitting in this bush is getting kinda boring, and my arms feel all funny from those leaves we went through."

"Yeah, do what you want with 'em, I'm gonna keep tracking the new kid. Something has to happen eventually, I just know it!"

\---

Reese walked up to the small counter at the back of the mess hall, waiting for the Quartermaster to notice him. He gave a little cough, and the QM looked down at him with some kind of crazy in his eye.

"Whatchu want?"

"Uh… breakfast?" Reese replied sheepishly, unsure if he should have waited for the other campers to arrive.

The Quartermaster turned around, grabbing a tray and filling it with not-quite-mashed potatoes and what could only be described as sweet-smelling sludge. "*mumble grumble* Nazi spies, *mumble grumble*"

"I-I'm sorry…?"

The QM dumped the tray on the counter and went back to cleaning a single plate.

"I, uh… thanks."

Reese sat down at a table, reluctantly eating the supposedly edible mush in front of him. It wasn't long before the mess hall started filling up with kids again. Space Kid was the last to enter, his fishbowl-helmet thing had a huge chunk taken out of it, only held together by a few layers of scotch tape. Max, Nikki, and a still pissed off Neil joined Reese at the table, Max choosing to sit next to him while the other two sat across from him.

"So, what happened yesterday?" Max asked, "You just kinda left and never came back. Something happen?"

"Oh, no, nothing you need to worry about." Reese replied nervously. He quickly decided to change the subject. "So, uh, Neil. What happened with Space Kid? I didn't stick around to watch."

Neil looked up from his tray, eyed Reese for a second and said, "I don't wanna talk about it." before going back to poking his mashed potatoes with a fork.

"Gwen said he could have killed him!" Nikki piped up, earning a side-glare from Neil. "Space Kid thought he got a bunch of glass in his eye, but turns out-" She was cut off as Neil practically growled at her.

"Yeah, I guess they just kinda have a rivalry now. But not really 'cause Space Kid's too much of a moron to actually hate anyone. Either way, Neil fuckin' hates him. Especially since Space Kid started bugging him with random space facts last week." Max idly explained, earning another, more intense glare from Neil.

The rest of the half-hour passed by quite quickly, and Reese was thankful that Max hadn't brought up the previous day again. As the rest of the campers followed Gwen to their next activity, Reese hung back so he could head to the counsellor's cabin to start his guitar lessons with David. The last thing he wanted was anyone following him.


	4. Chapter 4

Knocking on the door, Reese felt his throat tighten again. What if this was all some big mistake? Should he just come clean and tell David what was up? No, Daniel would probably find out somehow. It wasn't long before David opened the door, still looking just as enthusiastic as he did thirty minutes ago.

"Hi Reese! Ready to start your first lesson?"

"Yup! Actually, I already know a lot of the basics. I was wondering if you had any campfire songs you could teach me?"

"Wait, I thought you wanted to learn how to play guitar?" David said, a confused expression on his face as he stepped aside to let Reese into the cabin.

"I mean, I really just wanted an excuse to get away from everyone else, you know? They're all really loud, and it'll take a while for me to get used to them. Plus, I used to have regular guitar lessons back home, so I guess I just need some sort of routine." Reese explained. He looked up at David, slightly surprised to see a more serious expression now on the counsellor's features.

"Reese, I hope you don't mind but I was hoping to actually turn this into a therapy session. You've only just arrived, and something seems really wrong. Max already told me he was worried about you, and coming from him, that's definitely cause for concern. If you're really opposed to the idea though, I'd be more than happy to teach you some songs."

"Max… Why would he be worried?" Reese mumbled to himself. Looking back up, he noticed David was waiting on a response. He slowly put his guitar down. "Oh, right. I mean, I guess so. I mean, I haven't really got that much to talk about."

Reese then proceeded to tell David about his parents' divorce, his mother's drug addiction, and the main cause of the divorce.

"When my mom found out dad was bi, she got really mad. I guess she's just homophobic, but dad took it hard. She divorced him the next day, but since neither of them had the money, they couldn't go to court. They split custody over me, but mom started getting more possessive, taking me for longer than dad, and then she stopped letting me see him altogether. I really miss him. I miss Teddy too. Why can't everything just go back to normal?" Reese began tearing up more than he would have liked.

"Who's Teddy?" David asked softly, also trying not to tear up at the sight of this poor kid.

Reese forgot that he hadn't mentioned his friends yet, but thought it best to leave it. He couldn't say too much, or he might start talking about Daniel too.

"No one. I'm sorry, I-I can't do this anymore," Reese sniffed before leaving the cabin as quickly as his shaking legs would let him. He ignored David's reminder to grab his guitar, and ran out into the woods. He didn't know where he would end up, but he couldn't be around anyone. Not right now. His mind filled up with thoughts of Ted and Marina. What were they going through right now? What was Daniel doing to them? Were they even alive at this point?

The trees all looked the same. He had been running for only a few minutes but was already hopelessly lost. _Well shit. Why the fuck did he have to send me here? Why not one of his other cultist friends? Why the fuck did I have to agree to this?_

"God fucking damn it." Reese muttered, not expecting anything to come of it. He heard some rustling before the last person he expected to find in a forest emerged from the trees.

"Careful with that language there, Reese."

"Daniel?!" Reese half-yelled, before quietening down to whisper-yelling. "What are you doing here? What if I had been followed? You could blow my cover!"

Daniel smiled, leaning down to Reese's height. "Well, how else did you expect to report to me? Speaking of, did you gather any useful information yet?"

"What? No, not yet. I think Max suspects something. Apparently he spoke to David about me, and-"

"What did he say?" Daniel interrupted, looking like he could kill Reese at even the mention of Max's name.

"I-I don't know. Look, you really shouldn't be here. It's too dangerous!"

\---

Max reeled back at what he saw. "I fucking knew it! He's working with that goddamn psychopath! But why?" He realised he'd need more solid evidence to prove that the new kid was a cultist in disguise, and he didn't have David's phone on him. What better place to look for evidence than in Reese's tent?

Max quietly made his way out of the forest, careful not to be seen by either of the cultists. Good thing he had gotten lost in there plenty of times to know his way back. And, thanks to Nikki, everyone else was busy listening to Gwen lecturing them on some health and safety precautions, probably grenade related, so he didn't have to worry about anyone seeing him sneaking into Reese's tent.

Looking around, there was nothing immediately incriminating. It was about as barren as you would expect from a tent, the only items in there being Reese's bed and guitar, and a box of junk that seemed to be in everyone's tent. That seemed like as good a place as any to start searching.

"C'mon, there's gotta be _something_ in here that'll prove he's guilty…" Max trailed off as he noticed an envelope loosely hanging from some tape under the bed. "Bingo!"

Grabbing the envelope, Max opened it, his smug grin faltering at what he read. There was way too much information in there for him to be even remotely comfortable. He had to show David.

\---

Reese began to panic as he neared the camp. How would he explain this to David? He had to think of something, fast. _Fuck it, I'll just tell him everything. Best case scenario, Daniel kills me and I don't have to deal with this shit anymore_. He was a little surprised to see David on his own, almost like he was waiting for something, or someone to show up. That's when he turned to see Reese, slinking out of the woods, tears staining his cheeks.

"Reese? What happened, are you alright?" David hurried to meet Reese, softly gripping him by the shoulders, trying to meet the boy's eyes.

"David, there's something I should probably tell you. It's about Daniel-" Reese was cut off as Max's panicked voice filled the air.

"David! David! I was right!" Max paused for a moment, struggling to catch his breath before continuing, "This fucker works for Daniel!"

David looked taken aback by Max's claim. "Max! Now is not the time for your games and, frankly, _ridiculous_ accusations!"

"It's true." Reese mumbled, still loud enough to be heard. David looked even more surprised, releasing Reese from his grip. "I-I was going to tell you, I swear, I just-"

Reese was cut off once again, but this time by the screeching of tyres as a white van sped into the camp grounds, narrowly missing the mess hall and flagpole, stopping adjacent to David and the kids. Gwen and the rest of the campers began clamouring out of the mess hall, excited by this turn of events. Gwen spoke up above the noise.

"David, what the fuck is happening?"

David just shrugged as the van's engine stopped. The side doors opened to reveal none other than Daniel, with two kids tied up in the back. The driver of the van climbed out, holding a shotgun, the same as the other passenger. They pointed their guns at the campers in an attempt to keep them under control, earning terrified screams from all of them. Reese desperately wanted to call out to his restrained friends, but his view was blocked as Daniel stepped in front of them.

"Hello again, Reese. You really couldn't keep a secret for long, could you?"

"I fucking told you. " Max said bitterly, wishing David would listen to him.

"Look, I didn't have a choice, there was nothing I could do! Please, just let them go, you can do what you want with me as long as you let them go!"

"Oh, I plan to, right after I kill you!" Daniel threatened as he effortlessly spun Reese around, pinning the boy to his chest as he held a knife to his throat. Reese couldn't struggle as Daniel turned to address the now terrified campers, honing in on Max in particular.

"Is this what you wanted Max? For your friends to suffer?"

"You think we're friends? Fat fucking chance, I spent the past twenty-four hours trying to prove he was your accomplice! You can sacrifice him to fuckin' Xemüg or whatever the fuck you god's name was for all I care. It would honestly be the perfect end to this godforsaken adventure." Max turned to leave before the van's driver turned his gun on Max, cocking it loudly.

"Not so fast, Max. I'm not done with you yet." He turned to the other passenger guarding the van, nodding towards Gwen and the campers, "Keep them inside, would you?"

As the guard herded everyone else into the mess hall, David watched, helpless. It was easy to overtake Daniel in the bunker because it was only them, but now he had backup in form of a gun-wielding drug dealer.

"Now, why don't we all just calm down, and drop our weapons? Then we can have a nice, civilised chat." David nervously tried to reason with them.

"Hey man, I'm just doing what I'm paid to do." the driver spoke up, only for Max to retort with, "What's he paying you? We'll triple it."

David shot a glance at Max. While he appreciated his effort to de-escalate the situation, there was no way they could actually triple Daniel's offer unless it consisted of less than ten dollars. Looking back up, he looked Daniel in the eye. "Why are you doing this, Daniel?"

"Why does anyone do anything, David? I have your suffering to get out of this, so I propose a trade." Reese whimpered as Daniel's grip on him tightened. "Your new camper can go free, as well as his little friends, in return for Max's life. _If_ you refuse my offer, I'll just kill these three and order the genocide of the rest of your campers. The choice is yours, David." he finished with a smirk. David's eyes widened as he realised what he was faced with. The classic trolley problem, although this time it was much harder. He glanced over to the mess hall, seeing campers pressing their faces up to the window with terrified expressions, watching these events unfold. Well, all except Nikki and Ered. He looked back at the situation he was faced with. He knew he couldn't let anyone die, especially his campers. But was he really going to sacrifice Max for three innocent children _and_ everyone else? He couldn't. Could he? It was either Max or everyone, right?

David's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a window breaking as a round green object flew from the mess hall, hitting the gun wielding driver in the head, knocking him out almost instantly. Nikki could be heard from inside, saying "Dang it! Forgot the pin." Daniel looked down at the collapsed body next to him, shock visible on his features. He then turned to Max, furious.

" _You_ -"

He was cut short as another object flew from the already broken window, hitting him in the head. It was enough for him to let go of Reese, who ran into the van to help his friends. Daniel looked at David, blood beginning to drip from his temple.

"You planned this, didn't you?! Right from the beginning!"

"What? I don't-" David was interrupted as Daniel picked his knife up from the ground, walking towards Max and David with an almost insane expression.

"I wanted to make this exciting, _memorable_ even. But now I have to do all the work myself. Just as I always have. Although, I think I'm better off working alone, don't you agree?"

As Daniel got ready to lunge at David, a black car sped onto the scene, two agents stepping out. Daniel turned around for a split second, only to receive a bullet in his right leg.


	5. Epilogue

The campers watched as Daniel was taken away, apparently to Super Guantanamo, in a large van labelled 'F.B.I'. Reese hugged his friends goodbye as they got ready to be driven home.

"I wish we could spend more time together. This is probably the shittiest reunion ever, huh?"

"Don't worry about it dude. We'll see you again after camp anyway, right?" Ted replied, earning a nod from Marina.

"Yeah, I guess. Are you sure you'll be safe?"

"Daniel will be locked up for a long time, and our parents likely won't let us go anywhere for a while." Marina offered, calm as ever, despite recent events. "You could always come with us, you know?"

Reese let out a small sigh, sheepishly looking towards his friends. "I know, I just prefer it here, you know? It's so much better than at home. Plus, David promised he'd let me know if my dad texts him back, so I can go home with him instead of mom."

Saying their final goodbyes, Reese waved as his friends got in the car, watching them drive off into the distance. Reese turned and began walking back to the group of campers. David and Gwen stood off to the side, discussing something important. They directed occasional glances towards Reese, and suddenly Gwen raised her voice.

"David, you can't just do that! Did you even contact the kid's parents?"

David responded in a quieter tone, too quiet to be heard by Reese. He decided to direct his attention towards the campers. They had all separated into their regular groups, idly chatting amongst themselves like nothing had really happened. One group stood out to Reese, however. It was the magic kids, Harrison and Nerris, and the theatre kid, Preston. Harrison and Nerris looked like they were getting into an argument, while Preston watched on gleefully, not even trying to stop them. After a few moments, he looked up to see Reese, and waved him over.

Reese cautiously walked over, the magic kids not even noticing him. Preston left the argument to talk to the new kid, offering a handshake. Reese reluctantly complied as Preston introduced himself. "Hello! I suppose we haven't been properly introduced yet. I'm Preston," he gestured towards the magic kids, who had now turned away from each other, one playing with a deck of cards, the other drawing in the dirt with a cardboard sword. "Those two are Harrison and Nerris. We were talking before- well, more like this morning, and we thought you seemed lonely and wanted to invite you to join us. After seeing what you just went through, I'd say you could use some friends. Am I right?" Preston smiled sympathetically, dropping his usual, over-the-top attitude for a moment.

Reese smiled and nodded, Preston leading him back to the magical duo. He introduced them to Reese, and Nerris didn't waste any time asking him whose magic was better.

The sun began to set and the counsellors led everyone inside for dinner, deciding to leave the broken window for the time being. After dinner, everyone gathered around the campfire for some of David's campfire songs, which almost no one actually listened to. It was calm and peaceful, as Reese had hoped it would be for so long. He had craved a night like this. He sat on the ground next to his new rag-tag group of friends, wishing for this peace to last forever. It wasn't long before he drifted off, exhausted from the day he'd had. He finally felt safe.

He was home.


End file.
